Vehicle crashes can leave you with all sorts of injuries, but one of the most life-changing will be a spinal injury. Apart from irrevocably changing your life, it may well shorten it. That’s because it will leave you much more vulnerable to infections such as septicemia, which could be fatal.
Claiming compensation for an early death, which might never happen, is probably not possible at this point. What you can do is claim for the inevitable consequences your spinal injury will have during your lifetime.
Medical bills and time off work can soon add up
According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), the average number of days in the hospital for an injured spine is 11. The average number of days of rehabilitation required is 30. That’s at least 41 days’ worth of medical bills you will need to pay. You’ve also a 30% chance of needing to spend further nights in the hospital due to infections or other complications.
You are not going to be working for those days, so you need to factor in the loss of income. What’s more, you might not ever work again. The NSCISC figures show that a mere 32% of people managed to return to employment within 30 years. Within the first year, that figure drops to 18%.
The study found the average lifetime cost to someone who injures their spine aged 25 will range between $1.72 million and $5.16 million. For someone injured aged 50, the range is from $1.21 million to $2.83 million.
No insurer is willingly going to hand you that amount of money. You will need experienced legal assistance to fight for what you’re rightfully due.